Max was sitting on his bed, looking at the shadowy figure in front of him. Voldemort, or rather, Tom Riddle Russo, was watching him with a calm, calculating expression.
—What do you want from me? —Max asked, a mix of caution and curiosity in his voice.
Tom crossed his arms, offering a slight smile.
—I want you to help me achieve my ambition through you. The world has forgotten me, but through you, my legacy can continue. You have potential, Max, much more than you realize. I can help you unlock it.
Max frowned.
—And what exactly is your ambition?
Tom's expression darkened slightly.
—To finish what I started. To unite those who have been marginalized, to change how magic is controlled. You have the lineage to do it, but your power is still dormant. I can help you release it.
Meanwhile...
In the lair, Jerry entered with an unusual appearance. To everyone's surprise, he looked exactly like his wife. With an exaggeratedly high-pitched voice, he said:
—My children, it's me, your mother, Theresa!
Justin and Alex were left speechless. Max, still confused by his conversation with Tom, simply raised an eyebrow.
—Mom, what are you doing here? —Justin asked incredulously.
Jerry sighed, waved his hand, and then Justin pulled out his wand and cast a spell, returning him to his original form.
—It was an experiment for the body-swap class —he said, shrugging.
Just then, Professor Crumbs appeared in the lair with a serious expression.
—Jerry, I need your help —he said bluntly—. The Wiz Tech is in chaos. Can you handle some students from the Wiz Tech? Someone flooded it with plastic balls, the natural enemy of magic.
—Sure, a few won't be a problem —Jerry said, and then Crumbs opened the door, letting them in.
Alex was talking with Hugh, who introduced her to Ronald Longcape Jr., something she knew wouldn't end well, as in the series, Ronald turns out to be part of a family of villains.
I also suggested to Justin that we should check out the Wiz Tech. What Justin didn't know was that Max had agreed to go at Tom Riddle Russo's suggestion, who had told him about an artifact hidden in a secret room that could activate the Russo lineage by 90%. Max, who had never been to the Wiz Tech, felt intrigued.
While exploring the school, Max found Professor Crumbs' office and snuck inside. There, he discovered ancient documents. One in particular caught his attention: a prophecy labeled "RUSSO." It said: "A child of a wizard and a mortal, a half-blood, will destroy Gorog."
Max immediately knew it referred to Alex. But there were two other prophecies. He remembered one Harper had mentioned in the episode when she came from the future: one of the three would reveal magic to the world. That prophecy was marked as "inaccurate."
The third prophecy was partially covered. Just as he was trying to read it, Ronald Longcape's father entered. Also named Ronald Longcape, he was looking for information on how his family became powerful. Max hid in time, watching as the man found a file related to a magical tower and a "hit the ball" game.
Max escaped without being seen but had more questions than answers: What was that third prophecy? Was it about him? What was there? Was his destiny controlled from the beginning?
He then went to the place Tom had told him. He didn't trust him because he knew him from the Harry Potter films and was aware of how manipulative he could be. Tom told him to walk and that the hallway would reveal itself. Then Max noticed the space around him distorting and changing, and he was floating in a space with dark green energy. He was quickly pulled out of there. When he emerged, he found a ring with a snake on top.
—Max, Ronald's father is evil and wants to create a dark magic school —Justin said, worried.
—I know —Max responded in a low voice—. And I think Alex is falling under his influence.
Justin looked at him confused.
—How do you know?
Max opened his backpack and pulled out a letter.
—Because his family has evil in their bloodline, according to what I found in Professor Crumbs' office. And Ronald... is manipulating her. He wants to take her to the evil tower and make his family evil again.
—We have to stop him —Justin said.
—Yes, but first I need to know more about that tower. Maybe I could use it to gain more power than Voldemort was offering me.
Back at the substation, Justin met with Alex and Ronald.
—Alex, Ronald, your father is evil. I think his son is the same and is involved with something about an evil tower he wants to use for his benefit. We can't let them fall into his game.
Alex looked at him confused, but Ronald Jr. just smiled enigmatically.
—Yes, Alex, my father is bad. He always thinks big but never follows through. See? I told you, I'm not bad —Ronald said.
—Then why don't you tell someone your father is evil? —Justin asked.
—Because they'll look at me like you do —Ronald responded.
—You saved yourself this time, but the flames never leave the inferno —Justin said.
As for the plastic balls, they all disappeared magically, and no one knew who was responsible. However, Max had used the ring he found in the secret room to clean up the chaos, dissipating the balls with a spell. So, they could now return to the Wiz Tech.
When I arrived at the substation, I found Dean in gelatin. I took him out, and he believed it was all a fainting spell from fighting Ronald, who had tricked him. When he left, I replaced the Ronald who should have been in the gelatin with a plastic one and would send Dean's letter to Alex by magical mail. I didn't want to deal with what happened in the series, so I sat, hoping everything would go well.